You can explore Greek words and their translations, Scriptures and their truths, and draw many conclusions about the power of a Rhema Word from God, but nothing compares to receiving one for yourself. When the Holy Spirit speaks God’s Word into your heart, you know its truth is yours. Even if you may not experience or see it at that moment, you know with every fiber of your being that it is true. You can stand on it. Nothing can shake your faith.
Five years ago, I found myself battling an unknown illness that worsened over time. I spoke by phone with a nurse practitioner who advised against coming in due to the spread of Covid. After several weeks in bed, I could hardly walk. One day I collapsed on the floor and couldn’t get up. I lost consciousness on the way to the hospital and ended up staying there, fighting for my life. But Jesus was with me, providing strength during the many months of illness that lay ahead. The Holy Spirit had given me a Rhema Word. He had spoken to my heart one day while I was seeking His help. When I reached Philippians 1:24-25 in the New Living Translation, my heart suddenly beat harder, and the Words were spoken right into my heart.
“But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live. Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith” (Philippians 1:24-25).
I suddenly knew. These words became Rhema to me; they became life. My faith soared. The Holy Spirit spoke to me, acknowledging how much seeing others grow in their faith meant to me. He assured me that He wasn’t done with me yet and that I would remain alive so I could help others experience the joy of their faith. This living, breathing Word of God had become mine. It carried me through the hard months of illness ahead. It inspired me to seek other utterances from God’s Word that spoke healing and life to me.
You can read the verses Paul wrote in Philippians 1 with your natural mind about what he was experiencing. He wrote from prison about the possibility of his death but was convinced of his deliverance so that he could help others grow in their faith. That is the Logos Word sharing what Paul experienced. Yet, that Logos Word transformed into Rhema’s life when I needed it to. I knew and understood it spiritually in my heart. These verses answered the desire of my heart to encourage others in their faith. I was not reading about Paul; I was reading about myself. God's Words were my Words. I knew that I would live.
A week ago, the Holy Spirit revealed an unexpected Word. I had a sudden urge to go to the office and find another version of the Bible to study. I saw my mother’s Bible that I had received when my father passed in 2018. I had never really looked at it because I knew she had not used it very long before she had come down with Alzheimer’s Disease. Her handwriting on the dedication page indicated that she had purchased it in 2004, just before she was diagnosed. Opening it, I found a neatly folded blue Kleenex in its pages, marking Psalm 133. She had found something that spoke to her in the Word before she became unable to read it. There was a place on the Kleenex where it appeared a few tears and three drops of blood had fallen. Her Bible was written in the New International Version.
How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.
It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.
My mother’s greatest concern was always for her family to live in unity. This had consistently been her prayer, and here it was in the Word, with a blue tissue placed right on top of it. I knew this Psalm had brought my mother peace. It had spoken to her heart that God had heard her prayer. It had comforted her with the image of His precious oil flowing down—His blood flowing, healing, restoring, and bringing the ones she prayed for together in Him. It was the last verse that brought God’s promise to life in her heart: “For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” This had always been her prayer for her family, just as it has always been my prayer for mine. This Word that had come alive in her heart was now ignited in me. Our prayers had been heard, and the blessing, even life forevermore, would be bestowed.
How do I know all this about my mother? The Holy Spirit revealed it to me. With a tear and blood-stained blue tissue resting on Psalm 133, He spoke it right into my heart.
We all have needs and a desire to hear from God. The Holy Spirit has life-giving Words for you, with messages that speak faith into your heart and a vision for your life. Receiving the living Word of God must start with the written Word. Are you hungry to believe? Faith comes by hearing the Word in your heart. He has blessed your life with the gift of His Son, and His greatest desire is to continue blessing you. Those who hunger and thirst for Him shall be filled. He withholds nothing from His child who seeks Him.
For he satisfies the longing soul and the hungry soul, he fills with good things.
—Psalm 107:9
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